which is a long way over the number that it was supposed to hold yesterday's cruise was supposed to be just a nice sunday afternoon this stretch of the volga is very popular amongst cruise boats but it turned very rapidly into a nightmare it took just three minutes for the boat to sink and that created a stampede to try to get out of the boat in the chaos families were torn apart and this leads to some of the personal stories that we've heard very graphic and very traumatic ones for example a five year old that was rescued lost his mother and his grandmother he was in the water and they suspected he was going to drown but he grabbed hold of a hand he saw this belongs to a man he didn't know who managed to rescue him but the man himself lost his pregnant wife another man whose wife was also pregnant ran off to try and find her friends he couldn't stop her and never saw her again he grabbed his son and jumped into the water but the current was too strong and the water too cold and took his

son from his arms and he had to watch his son drown in front of his own eyes. from a summer dream to a nightmare in a matter of minutes but even over the last course our child remained on that boat. it was a sunday afternoon when the holiday river cruiser garia run into difficulties on the volga catastrophe came swiftly if you can think of it is that people were basically buried alive in china metal coffin we managed to get out through the windows and i was there with my ten year old daughter i couldn't rescue her she smiled too much water when i was pulled out i realized my child was gone. the ball garia now lies at the bottom of the pool or the with. the missile sink in listen three minutes it flipped to the right then swerved and went down we were literally thrown out and that's how we survived. our whole family was on that ship we lost

everybody my wife and grandchildren two vessels passed by and didn't even care to stop and reach out a helping hand we've spent around two hours in the water before we were rescued i swam around searching for survivors and couldn't find anybody there were a lot of children on the ship they were all in the going through it was impossible for them to get out of there my grandson would be five years old tomorrow he went on the ship to celebrate his birthday. many of the passengers were families with children on a weekend sightseeing great survivors and relatives powerless to act and now able only to wait and ask. me we are telephoning everyone trying to learn anything about our dear ones we called the police but they said to contact the search and rescue service we did but there was no reply so we came here to find out at least something but even here nobody knows anything. it's horrible we haven't the slightest knowledge of what's going on they should give us at least some

information we're calling the search and rescue service but i don't ask for the phone. as many as fifty of the passengers were under eighteen years old hold into the volga three kilometers but these people behind me are just some of the relatives desperate for news about their loved ones and what was a pleasure boat cruise for them turned into a living nightmare. the volga bank central russia. investigators are working into whether safety regulations were seriously violated that led by a lead that then led to the tragedy on the volga artesian tell you know of aqaba has more on this from moscow he joins us live and i tell you the president quickly mobilized an investigation into this was to be made better of been saying. russian president need to be held a special meeting regarding this tragedy he was outraged he said that those responsible. the deaths of all those people the death toll is rising by the hour

they will be found and punished he set up a special states commission to investigate into the case and the russian transport ministry is going to be heading that commission let's listen to what the best. i want the prosecutor general's office to check for compliance with the political transport regulations by the owners of the vessel the state officials that certified it as suitable for cruising and generally everyone related to the organization of this cruise especially considering the fact there was so many children on board the ship the results of that investigation should be summed up a not only in relation to this specific catastrophe but in relation to all vessels of this class and other classes as well the number of decrepit barges cruising along our waterways is enormous and the fact that we were lucky before yesterday doesn't mean anything like that couldn't have happened it did happen and with the most grave consequences to the. present day that is also announced tuesday

that swells troy to be the day. the country's emergencies ministry reporting more and more deaths by the hour are saying that there is very chance at this point it's a that more people will be saved i was in prisons also ordered to check up on all boats served vessels of such winds to make sure this situation does not repeat itself and he names is one of the reasons for the ship just saying it was because it was really that began sea sailing in nineteen fifty five that means over fifty five years old sailing without proper checkups on the boats oh no tell you what are investigators considering in finding out how this disaster happened. well. the main reason being the ship was really old but it's a combination of things. if that could have led for the ship to sink assembly ports

is saying that the vessel didn't have a license to transport passengers in the first place other reports are saying that all the capacity of the best code was only one hundred and twenty feet well if the car was carrying over two hundred or. so some forces saying that one of the engines over the ship was broken and even though the captain was holmes at that he decided to proceed with a trip anyway so you are you with this is i saying that the weather conditions were those two very difficult is that it was really strong wind it was very difficult to operate a vessel it's a very popular way you for spending time during summer of course you can see the river behind be booed scumming back and forth like every five minutes and of course the moscow river here in central city in the in the in the capital is very narrow but the river is very big and the waters there there is very cold so one of the

reasons for the deaths was the water that people waited for two hours to be saved and they were in favor in the end and many suvari business saying that in fact emergency exits over the boats were blogs that maybe the reason that's the boat was way through the right now we're also hearing reports that there's a leakage of that shoot from the boat that thing on to the need to evacuation old people and we're seeing the situation in the region and trying. to tell you know the code to live on the search for answers to the deadly sinking of the ball gary thanks for that report. just to recap now the main points of the tragedy so far divers have now recovered more than forty bodies from the doomed pleasure cruiser that sank sunday in the volga river and russia's republic of tatarstan they say more than one hundred bodies many of them children remain trapped inside the vessel as a recovery teams retrieve more victims destroyed. relatives waiting anxiously for news

of their loved ones our told that there is little hope of finding anyone else alive tuesday's been declared a national day of mourning for the victims of the tragedy president medvedev has ordered an investigation into why the ship sank saying quote decrepit vessels shouldn't still be cruising the country's waterways the investigative committee believes a technical failure is to blame for the disaster our team is following the developments as they unfold in the tragedy will keep you updated on across the day. turning now to the day's other top stories the middle east peace quartet will meet in washington later on monday at a time when the israeli palestinian divide is growing wider russia the united states the u.n. any you have a tough job ahead with peace talks weathering and with the upcoming u.n. vote on recognizing an independent palestine the impasse has been compounded since israel rejected u.s. backing to return to the previous one nine hundred sixty seven borders as basis for the talks israel began occupying palestinian territories including gaza the west

bank and east jerusalem during the six day war also driving a wedge in finding a solution is the refusal to stop or withdraw jewish settlements on disputed lands and parties policy or visited one ancient arab village near jerusalem that its former inhabitants say stands as a painful memory to injustice. nestled in the mountains of jerusalem are the remains of a once bustling arab community only the memories of those who once lived have survived intact i fear this. will come back and to be. my age. says the mood we're going. to leave. my car there. among the cacti and fixed trees but the nine hundred forty eight just before the state of israel was to cade his family evacuated unlike the hundreds of villages

that disappeared in forty eight and sixty seven most of the original houses of lift are still here so they really were headed to the. they really should do the whole the whole day with the hope that they will shoot. our mother took us inside the room in the corner and then the table so as to prove to. us you could was one of seven hundred thousand palestinians who became a refugee in one nine hundred forty eight his childhood home was quickly absorbed by the newly established jewish state almost inevitable as the man who lived his house in london for nevertheless if he was forced to do just because you were returned he is considered as absentee and he lost the property in the early one nine hundred fifty s. jews moved into the abandoned homes like you or your husband's parents they were also refugees fleeing arab countries we life had become dangerous after israel was

created these ready government sent them to live in lifter your nieces to prevent arab owners from returning or in their came here on live here years without water without electricity the came here. for the memory here is very important most of the original two hundred jewish families lived because life in the mountains was difficult and the government was slow to develop the area no one has lived in these houses for forty six years all that remains are stone walls where wild flowers and grass now grow if there is empty. i didn't see that emptiness that the israeli government now plans to build more than two hundred luxury homes a chicago tell shops and a museum insisting they'll preserve the area's history we will find ourselves with a neighborhood where history has been conserved there will also be documentation and the story will be told of who lived there as we do in all the neighborhoods of

jerusalem but maybe luckier could say it's palestinian land and a double injustice why you want to destroy our house and. yeah me. for roots real world came from anywhere in this way i can move in my village and come back. return back to my freedom and live in. this new me. and. so i'm for palestinians lifter is a physical reminder of injustice and survival but for a fair number of israelis it's an eyesore and they'd rather not be reminded of what happened here every time they drive into jerusalem policy r.t. lifter. five people have been killed in a suicide bombing at a political rally in northwest pakistan it's the latest violence to rock the tal in

the taliban stronghold and comes after pakistan said it could manage without the nearly billion dollar military aid that america is currently holding back it's not washington's decision is retaliation for is a lot about expelling more than one hundred u.s. military advisers the u.s. pakistan relationship has been strained since osama bin laden's killing earlier in may and the u.s. drone attacks that have killed civilians the white house says is a lot about is an important ally in the war on terror but that the relationship must be worked on over time journalist ahmed correctly says the bitterness is going to be tough defense. i don't think we're seeing any signs that the u.s. officials are really sincere about the relationship. as a relationship between two depends on these they would like to work together ten years ago. it was really very hard to find a clean clean shaven buckstone you criticize in the united states it was it was taken for granted if you're criticizing the u.s.

you must be some radical extremist but today you have people from the upper classes of pakistan really lead and very very critical of the united states so i think there's something really wrong and i think there is a huge responsibility also on. the u.s. media to convey the right picture to the american public media which is unfortunately they're not doing their very much telling the whatever is in line of government so i think i don't see the near future many of the serious differences between pakistan and the united states. a small passenger planes been forced to make an emergency landing on water in eastern siberia at least seven people have died the engine of twenty four that was carrying thirty six people reported engine trouble before coming down the plane landed on the old river and managed to float allowing survivors to escape but four passengers are in grave condition and two

others remain missing. turning now to some other stories making headlines across the globe a packed train has the rail to northern india while traveling full speed at least sixty nine people dead more than two hundred injured it's not known how it crashed but some reports suggest the driver hit the emergency brakes to avoid hitting cattle causing some of the twelve carriages to land on top of the others army teams are now cutting through the crush carriages to find trapped survivors and recover bodies. a series of blasts at a naval munitions dump in cyprus has killed twelve people wounded more than thirty others it's thought a grass fire spread to the base setting two out of almost one hundred containers a blaze the blast damage the country's largest electricity station leading to island wide power cuts reports say the explosives had been seized from a ship traveling from iran two years ago and were kept in the depot without proper care. syrian forces had killed at least one person and injured more than

twenty and once thought to be the heaviest rain since troops were deployed to the west two months ago tanks and soldiers were sent to syria's third largest city homes a day after what the government held and what it called a national dialogue that was boycotted by the opposition there been five months of protests in syria calling for the end of president assad's regime. so that this president is warning that a border dispute with a newly independent south sudan could descend into conflict northern forces seized the idea in another border region in may causing around one hundred seventy thousand people to flee in recent months president bashir said a protocol governing the area must be respected or there will be consequences it's hoped that the south secession would bring would bring peace acar decades of brutal civil war. spain has given into washington the demands to step up to the plate and providing military muscle in the libya campaign it's allowing to use its use of its

jet fighters to ease the burden on nations already involved but authorities our fourth reports spain has bigger troubles back home with taxpayers unwilling to cough up for the conflict when they say the country is circling the drain. we appreciate spain's contributions to enforcing the no fly zone and the arms embargo the nato led mission is on track a pat on the back foot spain but not everyone feels quite so please with spain's involvement in libya least of all the spanish people. spanish government support. with spanish troops because they're not. there not to order that and their parliament and the government but not the public opinion recent polls have shown a large majority of the population and now against the military campaign and spain continues to swear in the abyss of economic crisis political and public eye rest

has been growing. it's been carried out in the conditions of a tough economic crisis and conditions when the government had to sacrifice a lot introduce huge reduction of costs in the social sphere we think it's unfair that when there is a program of material aid reduction the state participates in a conflict which will be damaging to the country's economy. yet the u.s. defense secretary has still couldn't spain among others to play a more active role in the nato mission and despite the collapse of the housing market and with unemployment at critical level spain has in death and the extended its mandate for involvement in libya we don't think it's a human need to. resort to go to media now because we didn't care about human rights a year ago when we were. leaving. the libyan people have right a year ago and we didn't hear about welcomed in spain in recent years gadhafi was even awarded the keys to the city on an official visit to madrid the ten there is

that so many western countries until recently he could to get south bay and tolerated his regime. so the operation against libya is an action performed so. the strategic interests of the major powers such an example of double standards of morals cannot be justified by the international community and the team members themselves have taken very different views about the action being taken in libya with less than half the countries even taking part to pressure on participants like spain to increase their involvement a commitment they simply can't afford right now evidence of the internal struggles the country is facing it's not hard to find here on the outskirts of madrid you can see signs everywhere of the pre-crisis construction boom much of that works now stopped and most of those apartments and. now those here in spain who oppose nato

military intervention in libya say that of course they don't support the dictatorship but they also don't support their country being dragged into a war whilst they themselves are still fighting such tough economic conditions surface r.t. madrid. recapping our top story now divers have now recovered more than fifty bodies from the doomed pleasure cruiser that sank sunday on the boulder river in russia's republic of tatarstan it's thought that about a third of the boat has now been checked some areas remain out of reach more than one hundred bodies many of them children are still trapped inside the emergencies ministry says there is little hope of finding anyone else alive today has been declared a national day of mourning president medvedev has ordered an investigation into why the ship sank saying that decrepit vessels shouldn't still be cruising the country's waters investigative committee believes a critical technical failure is to blame for the disaster r.t.d.

is following developments as they unfold in this tragedy and we'll keep you fully updated across the day. comprehensive coverage of our updates on the boulder river tragedy is also a click away at r.t. dot com with many children aboard we report on the lucky escape but also those who didn't stand a chance after being pulled and trapped underwater within minutes. and our report video reports and footage from the rescue and recovery also online click over to our tease you tube channel for more on that. and update on developments in tartarus done in a few minutes we'll turn next to the business news with dimitri stay with us. thanks man hello and welcome to the business news on out so we present

a bit of his meeting with businessmen to brainstorm ways to improve russia's investment climate to get the details let's cross now to business our teams money in the course of our money hopefully you are with us yes there you are well million dollar question how do you improve the investment climate in the country. well according to present me with a bit of a it's all about making better conditions for international specialists he wants the government to make it easier for them to come and work here and he says that it's also all about the privatization plans he says the government's proposals are to model this and he wants the government to decrease its stake in the business sector now there are also proposals to introduce a golden shares which will give the state special rights to veto any she teach of decisions made by the companies and some say that this will go against everything that privatisation stands for but some are confident that president. will go through with this ultimate goal and that is to make sure the government has less

control in the business industry and creates more competition all right mary the cost of thank you so much for that update move quickly to the markets now if we can oil is extending losses on those strong ball and concerns about the u.s. economic recovery with those figures. trading around one hundred seventeen dollars per barrel while west texas crude is up below ninety five dollars per barrel as of course is having its toll on the energy companies around the world european stocks this was fresh concerns about sovereign debt up putting financials on the pressure investors are waiting for the results from emergency euro zone meeting it's aimed at preventing the debt crisis spreading to its in the euro zone's third largest economy countries assets have seen ahead. the sell off with the bottom yield rising to over five percent that is our concern about the high level of italy's public debt it's now it now stands at around one hundred twenty percent of the gross

domestic product here in russia the markets are mostly affected by the oil prices which are coming down right now the r.t.s. is down one point six percent my sixth more than one percent let's take a look at some of the individual movers on the my sex and yes energy shares the biggest loser is gas is losing one a half percent more snap also one point five percent drug maker come out as also losing but it's growing better than the markets this is owner of bulls that ross nano aims to invest three hundred million dollars to upgrade the company's metal production and implementing nanotechnologies. and we will be back next hour with an update the headlines are next on our team do stay with us.

lead .

four thirty pm in moscow these are your r t headlines we're covering the breaking news a rescue that is now a recovery operation divers have retrieved fifty bodies from the doomed pleasure cruiser that sank sunday in the cold a river in russia's republic of tatarstan the number of confirmed dead stands at fifty with dozens of bodies still trapped under the water. russia's president orders those responsible for the tragedy identified and punished placing the disaster on decrepit margins using the waters. that would be for the long. shock relative struggle to come to terms with how their loved ones were driving to their deaths when the boat sank within minutes. the

middle east peace quartet making another effort today to negotiate stalled talks between israelis and palestinians but the decades long conflict could get another twist with the palestinians asking for the u.n. to officially recognize their state at a meeting in september coming up we talk with a palestinian politician and former foreign minister to ask whether a solution can finally be reached. we are now joined by the former foreign minister of the palestinian authority and the current member of the thought and one central committee the palestinian israeli conflict has been around for so many decades that it almost became part of you political discourse and bargaining chip and some political and some political leaders may not feel that pressure to keep things really are you hopeful that any sort of lasting solution can be found i wonder why i mean why is it that.

the world have ended colonization and the no colonies anymore. except or in our case. in line nine hundred ninety. your question was answered all right but east indians were willing to give up seventy eight percent of the country and accept the west bank and gaza but the world accepted as not israeli occupied in one thousand nine hundred eighty seven i spent all my life to go shaking that agreement way before school started and when no school started between the lobby in the late president the israeli prime minister of israel and preside over five billet prisoner i think the hope was absolutely there but this is the solution two states side by side on the holy that divided by the one nine hundred.